


The Journey

by hannahncakes



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, One-Shot, outside perspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-16
Updated: 2016-01-16
Packaged: 2018-05-14 09:08:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5737834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannahncakes/pseuds/hannahncakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"There was such tenderness between them I could hardly stand to watch but also found I couldn't look away."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Journey

I shivered as I pulled my legs up onto the seat beside me and pulled my coat closer around me. The darkness and the rhythmic motion of the bus were almost sending me to sleep- it was only the bitter cold that kept my senses awake. Bus journeys late at night in the middle of winter were never fun but my exhaustion from the week I'd just had meant I was contemplating putting my headphones in and thoroughly blocking out the rest of the world for the entire journey when I saw them. Well, I say saw them, but really I heard them first. As the bus pulled up to the stop their voices drifted in on the cold night air.

"But really, River." I heard a male voice groan loudly. "I just don't see why I have to get on a bus of all things. I mean really... A bus?" I looked up in curiosity and saw a woman step onto the bus, shaking her head and laughing as a man shuffled on behind her looking about dubiously. The woman lent in and spoke to the bus driver quietly and he laughed loudly before waving her on. The man almost threw himself onto the first seat he came to, folding his arms and legs elaborately and then refolding them quickly as if he was not used to the way his limbs interacted.

I couldn't help but stare at him as he pouted up at the woman he was with. He seemed so strange, and not in the way people who ride buses at this time of night are usually strange, and like he didn't belong here. He acted so young, like a child being forced to go shopping with his mum, and yet there was an air about him that showed he knew so much more. He managed to be both old and young at the same time- I'd never seen anyone quite like him before. And I probably never will again.

"Am I allowed to sit down, or are you still mad?" The woman grinned as she grabbed on to the handle as the bus jerked into action once again. She looked at him with such warmth, such affection, that I couldn't tear my eyes away. She talked to him like she'd been dealing with his tantrums all her life but, rather than being fed up of it, she enjoyed knowing exactly how he would react at any given moment.

"You can sit." He muttered quietly as he pulled himself closer to the window and made space for her to perch next to him "But I'm still mad. You broke my TARDIS!" The man glared out of the window but the woman merely laughed as she put her arm around his shoulders gently, pulling him closer.

"I didn't break her." She laughed again; clearly his words meant something to her even though they sounded like nonsense to me. "She just needs a rest, she'll be fine when we get back to her."

"Well she never needs a rest when I drive her!" He pouted, somewhere between boasting at his skills and telling her off for whatever it was she'd supposedly done.

"She needs a rest because you drive her!" The woman rolled her eyes."You leave the breaks on, you never use the stabilisers and the poor old girl is worn out every journey! She just needs one day off, that's all. Now stop sulking."

"A whole day, River." He snapped as he looked at her. "A whole day of walking and trains and buses. The buses are the worst! I mean... look at them! Dark and cold and really, really smelly!" He exclaimed loudly and I couldn't help but explode with laughter. People just didn't say things like that, not any people I've ever met. The woman turned around and looked at me. I felt myself blush, sure I was about to be reprehended for eavesdropping, but instead she just grinned and shrugged giving me a look that clearly said yes-he's-crazy-but-you-grow-to-love-it.

"Come on, sweetie." She coaxed him soothingly as she turned back towards him and stroked his face lightly. He sighed heavily and leant into her touch, closing his eyes as he did. "It's really not that bad. This is how normal people travel every day."

"Well I don't like it." He mumbled as he let his head drop onto her shoulder.

"It's nearly over now, nearly back where we parked her." She smiled as she placed a light kiss on his forehead. "And then we can relax, go anywhere you want you to go. Me, you, TARDIS with a view. Sound good?"

"Promise?" He smiled, bringing his face level with hers.

"I promise, sweetie." She laughed as she lent forward and kissed him gently. There was such tenderness between them I could hardly stand to watch but also found I couldn't look away.

"Good." He laughed as they broke apart, his face lighting up for the first time since he'd sat down. "So are we nearly there?"

"If you ask me that once more today I am taking back that offer, Doctor." She glared at him and he blushed slightly. "And I will make you visit a museum dedicated to the history of buses. Understand?"

"Yes, River." He muttered quickly and she smiled.

"Good. Glad we finally got that sorted." The woman smirked and reached out to straighten his bowtie gently. He looked as if he was going to say something but quickly thought better of it and bit down on his lip and instead pulled her into an embrace.

Silence fell in the bus as the sat there, holding each other. Her hands ran up and down his arms as his fiddled lazily with her hair and they just sat there, completely at peace with the world. You would never have guessed that a few seconds ago they'd been in the middle of a full-on domestic. I smiled as I sat back and watched them. They were one of those couples that watching them made you feel so lonely because you didn't have that wonderful relationship they had but, at the same time, so very happy because it meant that it was out there somewhere.


End file.
